Hoping to share the love, joy, and grace I have received in my own life.

More Changes

by danacox31 on May 27, 2016

I haven’t kept it a secret that in my greatest sorrow I have found faith, hope and love like I never knew. The past few years have been completely life changing. I miss Trevor incredibly but feel him with me even more as I am hearing God’s call and letting Him lead me into a new life. I am so blessed to be a part of two churches.

Our family started attending and became members of Lighthouse United Methodist Church shortly after we moved to Ogle County in 2002. The family we have at Lighthouse was there with us as our kids grew and when Trevor died. As some families do after a death, we struggle a bit and can get very emotional attending church at Lighthouse. We all miss Trevor’s presence there in our pew (fourth row on the north side.)

In my search for answers from God, following Trevor’s death, I began hearing a call to share my story, my journey of grief, and I have done that through this blog, through Serenity Hospice and Home and Healing Hearts. I thought I was doing what God was asking me to do and I was, but He slowly keeps revealing a little more of my life in front of me all the time and I realize this isn’t an overnight answer to my questions. He is slowly getting me there, in His time. The transformation that has occured in my heart over the past few years (and particularly the past 15 months) is one of nothing less than God’s work in me.

I began working for Rochelle United Methodist Church in February of last year when my grief had taken such a toll on me that I no longer wanted the stress of the employment I had for the ten years prior and God opened a door for me to work part-time for RUMC as an Administrative Assistant. Since beginning that job I have really learned to listen more to what God wants for me and to let the Holy Spirit guide me.

At the risk of rambling on and on about how this all evolved, I just want to share the overall message, which is what I was blessed to share with my Lighthouse family last Sunday when Pastor Chan offered me a chance to stand in the pulpit for him. When we are going through storms, that is the time that God is working His hardest. When I started to question God, “Why this? Why Trevor? Why me, Lord?” That is when I started finding my answer. The Bible doesn’t say that bad things won’t happen to good people. The Bible is full of stories of people, faced with real struggles that kept faith, no matter what. Before Trevor died, I was going along in life sort of stagnantly. I went to church, believed in God, and for the most part tried to do what I knew was right. Then the rug was pulled out from under me and I never thought I would breathe again. Yet, here I am!

My story is one that needs to be shared because I have been down and out….I mean really down and out. I buried a child…my son, my handsome, intelligent, funny, gifted son with his whole life ahead of him. I can’t cure my own heartache or more importantly, to me, the heartaches of my husband and daughters, but God can! He has brought me out of the dark and into a light that I want to share with everyone I know and even those I don’t know yet.

I am so blessed to be able to say that this week, I will begin a new full-time position with Rochelle United Methodist Church. I have been named the Director of Connection Ministries and I am going to be a part of an exciting movement to bring church out of the sanctuary and connect people with Jesus Christ. I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and the opportunity to share my story. I want the world to know that I have been on a walk that I would have never imagined and the further on the path I get, the more faithful I become. I have good news to share!

I will be posting to this blog more as I am following this call. I invite you also to like the Rochelle United Methodist Church Facebook page. Pastor Rob has already begun sharing short videos of his thoughts and there will be so much more to share as we move forward. The life we lead isn’t always easy, but a life with God is one that allows us to get through the muck and live a truly beautiful life, muck and all!